Pavarotti's widow has multiple sclerosis

Luciano Pavarotti's second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, is suffering from multiple sclerosis, the incurable disease of the nervous system, an Italian has magazine reported.

According to close friends, Ms Mantovani, 37, has suffered from the disease for at least eight years and has been having treatment at the Multiple Sclerosis Research Centre in New York for the last two, making monthly visits.

The revelation came in an interview in the Italian glossy magazine Chi with Dr Franca Corfini Strata, the wife of Pavarotti’s dietitian.

She said: "Luciano and Nicoletta told us together one day, when we were staying with them."